Cause
The three of them were silent after leaving the lecherous man's place. Bai Er had never imagined that his brother would be so irrational. He thought of himself, looked at Xu Yi beside him, his eyes darkened for a moment, and then he looked up again, his mind much clearer...
Wu Zi was much calmer. After all, he had already experienced the impact of love when Xu Yi was healing, so although he was now marveling at Bai Da's love, it didn't affect him much...
Xu Yi was the most silent of the three. She had witnessed the general's love for others in his lifetime, and now she had witnessed Bai Da's profound love. Although she had been an observer both times, she was still deeply moved by the magical thing called 'love'...
Finally, Wu Zixian came to his senses: "There's no time to lose, let's go to the west of the city now?"
"Okay." The two of them snapped out of their daze at the same time.
They went to the west of the city under the cover of night, and asked a wandering ghost for directions to Jiu Yin's address. When they arrived, they found that Jiu Yin's house was completely dark and no one was there.
The three searched the yard inside and out but found no cellar or other hidden rooms. The whole house was covered in a layer of dust, as if no one had lived there for a long time, and there were no clues inside either.
The three returned to the Imperial Observatory, but after searching through all of Jiu Yin's records, they found no other residence for him... Without even finding him, the matter couldn't progress at all.
Xu Yi sought the help of many wandering spirits, and Yi Qing also asked her friends to inquire everywhere... but the capital city was so big, it was like finding a needle in a haystack...
Continuing to search like this wasn't a solution, so the three of them discussed it and posted a notice in the ghost market under Xu Yi's name, asking someone to arrange a ghost marriage. Normal cultivators generally disdained such matters, and those they found were mostly charlatans and half-baked cultivators, but they still couldn't find any trace of the cause...
Yi Qing, using the reputation of the Imperial Observatory, spread the word that he would buy the demon bones and inner core of the thousand-year-old snake demon at a high price. All sorts of hooks were laid out, just waiting for the victim to take the bait...
Perhaps it was the reputation of the Imperial Observatory, because not long after, someone actually came to us claiming to have the demon bones and inner core of a thousand-year-old snake demon. After being examined, it was discovered that it wasn't Bai Da, but they still bought it at a high price, saying that the more the better, as a noble person needed it...
Fortunately, there are very few thousand-year-old snake demons to begin with, and even fewer that have been captured... so not many people came looking for them...
More than half a month later, the person who sold the snake bones before came again, this time bringing a small piece of finger bone. Bai Er immediately sensed the bloodline pull in the back room, his eyes immediately turned red, and his bewitching vertical pupils exuded a chilling aura...
Wu Zi and Xu Yi quickly held Bai Er down. Yi Qing, who was in front, also cleverly sealed off the aura coming from behind the cubicle so that the person who came in wouldn't be noticed. The person called himself Dao Yin. Yi Qing glanced at Dao Yin and slowly said, "Dao Yin, your previous goods were indeed good, but this time you only have this piece of finger bone. How are we going to use this?"
Daoyin chuckled: "This isn't mine; a fellow Daoist asked me to come and ask."
"Oh?" Yi Qing smiled politely in return. "I wonder which fellow Daoist you are? As you know, our Imperial Observatory doesn't accept things from just anyone."
The guide smiled and politely declined to reveal the answer: "That friend is busy with some things lately, so he asked me to ask. This... is not convenient to disclose!"
"Oh?" Yi Qing smiled more tactfully, and directly pushed the finger bone away: "Then please go back, fellow Daoist. The Imperial Observatory never accepts things of unknown origin."
Daoyin probably didn't expect Yiqing to be so direct, and his expression became unnatural for a moment before he changed his words, saying, "That friend is just a bit cautious, but the goods are absolutely fine. You can also use an array to verify them."
Yi Qing didn't speak, leaning back in her chair and staring straight at the guide.
Under Qing's blatant scrutiny, Daoyin took another step back: "My friend specifically emphasized that he wouldn't reveal his name, so everything else is negotiable. Besides, this demon did indeed bring karma upon himself before being captured by my friend, so there's absolutely no problem with the goods."
Having finally found a lead, Yi Qing didn't want to give up any longer, so she conceded, "This... goods without names or identities need to be examined using the strictest array formations of the Imperial Observatory before they can be accepted... I don't know..."
“No problem,” Daoyin nodded. “I specifically checked it before helping him. I’m afraid there might be some bad consequences.”
“But…” Yi Qing frowned again: “You only have this little finger bone, the item isn’t complete…”
"Oh, we know that. My friend is currently working hard to refine that monster. Once its flesh and blood have been refined, the bones will naturally be delivered. Today is mainly for you to inspect the goods and make a decision."
“That’s no problem. In that case, I’ll ask my master to use an array to examine it first. The results will be available in three days. I’ll trouble you to come again then.” After saying that, Yi Qing asked again, “I wonder how long it will take for your friend to refine that demon? If it takes too long, I’m afraid our esteemed friend won’t be able to use it.”
"My friend said it should take about a month to refine all of them, so there should be enough time."
“Alright,” Yi Qing stood up and cupped his hands in greeting, “Then please come back and check the results in three days, Fellow Daoist Dao Yin.”
"Okay, goodbye."
The three suppressed their urge to follow him and tacitly allowed the guide to leave smoothly.
When Yi Qing entered the cubicle, his expression was already very serious: "He said it would take about a month to refine it all, which means that Bai Da has already been reduced to his original form and a lot of his power has been refined. I'm afraid that even if he is eventually rescued, he will have lost all his power and may not even have the chance to start over..."
The three of them looked at Bai Er, who had regained consciousness and whose eyes were filled with sorrow: "As long as my brother is still here, it doesn't matter what he looks like. Even if he can't start over, I will definitely protect him."
“Okay,” Yi Qing nodded, “This is good news for us too, after all, we still have a month to negotiate…” After saying that, he handed Bai Da’s finger bone to Bai Er, “Keep it safe.”
Bai Er held the severed finger bone in his hands, tears welling in his eyes: "Thank you, thank you so much."
Then Qing looked at Xu Yi: "I just gave Daoyin a Qintianjian pass token. There are no tracking arrays or other hidden methods on it, but our Qintianjian token is a magic artifact. It has a natural restraining effect on the ghosts in the surrounding area. You can follow the pressure of the token to follow it. If you can find it, great. If not, you can only wait three days to make a plan."
Wu Zi's eyes lit up: "Senior brother, can the token be used like this?"
"Of course, ordinary ghosts will instinctively stay away from magical artifacts, but isn't that also a way to track them?"
Xu Yi was even more shocked than Wu Zi: "Magic artifacts can be used like this?"
Yi Qing smiled and said, "A magic artifact is just a tool, and naturally there are different ways to use it... However, you are a ghost after all. Staying in the pressure range of a magic artifact for too long may cause you harm. If you really can't hold on, just come back and we'll make further plans."
"Okay." Xu Yi nodded, and in a flash, she arrived outside the mansion.
Xu Yi watched as Daoyin walked onto the street. The pressure of the token made her instinctively squat down. She carefully felt her body's reaction: her chest felt stuffy, and her head felt heavy, as if something was pressing down on it.
As the guiding sound went further away, her head felt lighter, but her chest still felt tight. She stood up and, following this uncomfortable feeling, maintained a relatively fixed distance from the guiding sound...
Xu Yi followed the guiding sound all the way south of the city. After leaving the city, he suddenly lost the pressure of the token. Xu Yi was very anxious and didn't know what was wrong. He hurriedly ran forward a few steps and heard a soft laugh from his right rear: "Looking for me?"
Xu Yi turned around and saw Dao Yin leaning against the dense bamboo forest, looking at her with an amused expression. She didn't know what to do, so she could only give Dao Yin an awkward smile.
Daoyin took a few steps closer to her, a mocking look on his face: "You little devil are quite strange. When I came out of the Imperial Observatory, all the ghosts around me avoided me like the plague. But you, you've actually managed to withstand this pressure and follow me for so long. Tell me, why are you following me?"
Xu Yi broke out in a cold sweat, unsure how to explain herself. Suddenly remembering the notice posted in the ghost market, she lied and said, "I...I think you're very handsome, and your aura is very righteous. I want...I want to ask you to be my wife..."
"You want to marry me?" Daoyin frowned and looked at Xu Yi speechlessly: "You, a ghost, want to marry me, a cultivator? Even a little ghost should lie in a way that makes sense. You just spout nonsense?"
"Really..." Xu Yi said anxiously, "I posted notices at the ghost market, but no one helped me for a long time. Today... I just happened to see you and thought you were very pleasing to the eye, so... that's why I followed you all this way..."
After saying that, fearing that Daoyin wouldn't believe him, he took out the notice about the ghost market from his pocket and handed it to Daoyin. Daoyin took the notice, glanced at it, and looked up at Xu Yi, asking, "Your name is Xu Yi?"
Xu Yi nodded very honestly: "Yes."
“Heh…that’s interesting,” Daoyin handed the notice back to Xu Yi, then waved his hand at Xu Yi: “Go away, I won’t marry you. Who would want to be married to a ghost? Besides, I’m a cultivator. I’m already being merciful by not killing you. Don’t be so foolish as to follow people around next time. Others aren’t as easy to talk to as I am.”
"But...but I really like you..." Xu Yi was so anxious that cold sweat kept pouring down her forehead, and she blurted out in a panic, "If...if you really don't want to marry me, then can I follow you for a while? I promise, I promise I won't bother you."
"You're already a nuisance by following me. Get out of here or I'll kill you."
"I...I've never done anything wrong, you...you can't kill me..."
"Oh..." Daoyin suddenly realized, "So that's why you dared to follow me like this. You think you haven't done anything wrong, so you think I won't kill you?"
"I think... I think you're a good person, that you wouldn't kill me randomly..." Xu Yi looked at Xiang Yin cautiously.
“So he was an idiot…” Daoyin shook his head and sighed again: “Humans and ghosts are not on the same path, you should leave.”
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